By TOM COMBS
I don’t know Bob Schapper and I have no axe to grind. I know a number of people who work for the hospital and they have provided excellent service. They are dedicated individuals who deserve our support and recognition for a job well done. However, Moonshine Ink’s July articles about Tahoe Forest Hospital raised a number of observations and questions that certainly demand answers. Some of them were raised before and the community failed to take action.
As the CEO of a special district hospital, Mr. Schapper, as well as the board of directors, have an ethical, legal, and fiduciary responsibly to do what is best for the community they serve. I believe the concerns I have after reading the articles are shared by many in the community.
To be fair to both Bob Schapper and the community, the district attorney must open an investigation into a possible violation of California Government Code 1090. If he chooses not to investigate, then he should publicly state his reasons for not investigating what appears to be a prima facie violation of the code. If it turns out there is no violation, so much the better.
The board of directors appears to be unable, or unwilling, to ask the hard questions that an oversight group should be making for the well-being of the hospital and community. How they could have missed the issue of Medical Practice Solutions Inc. is hard to understand. Conflict of interest issues, nepotism, the bond issues, and possible poor use of the hospital foundation resources point to a board that is failing to adequately govern and provide direction.
There is plenty of blame to go around on these issues. What is important for our community is that the operation of our hospital is being managed by individuals who are cognizant of their responsibilities to see that stringent ethical guidelines are developed and followed, and that a fiscally sound policy is in place to see that necessary services are provided without trying to be something that a smaller community hospital is not. Our hospital should be the best that it can be.
It’s public money that is funding this institution. If an excessively large number of consultants are needed to adequately run the hospital, it is a red flag for poor management or, even worse, an excellent way of “awarding” contracts to friends and others. Be aware of the slippery slope of contract awards and vendor selection. Large and small jurisdictions have fallen off the ethical road in this area.
Special districts are primarily accountable to the voters who elect their boards of directors and the customers who use their services. There is a definite need to display to the hospital employees and the public a transparency in dealing with the issues presented in the Moonshine Ink articles.
The hospital board may wish to review The Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards. While the hospital is not a nonprofit, the responsibilities are pretty much the same. And a final note — thank goodness for the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Without resources such as this, it would be difficult for small papers to take on this type of task. Agree or not with the conclusions of the Moonshine Ink articles, they are a necessary part of the checks and balances of a free society.
~ Tom Combs spent 30 years with the Santa Rosa Police Department and retired in 2003. He moved to Truckee in 2006 with his wife Sandy, and is an active member of a service club in Truckee.
